


I'm Not Meant For This

by The_Autumn_Stars



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Definitely Some Hunk and Shay, F/M, Galra Keith (Voltron), Haha Shunk is fun to say, I Don't Even Know, Klance?? Maybe, M/M, Ships aren't meant to be the focus but they may/will be present so keep ya eyes peeled, Superheroes, Team Bonding, Team Dynamics, i don't really know what i'm doing, if Lance were an Incredible he'd be Incredi-Dull, send help, this is a mess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2019-04-06 20:12:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14064675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Autumn_Stars/pseuds/The_Autumn_Stars
Summary: In a world where everyone is super, Lance isn't. Does he still live? Yeah. Does it bother him sometimes? Yeah. But is that going to keep him from being a hero? Hell no.Villains and heroes alike suddenly become just as baffled as Lance had been by them all those years. Despite being a dud, a loser, a vulnerable weakling under the boot of the elite, he emerges victorious against evil and shows triumph for those previously believed to be useless in a life like this one.But he isn't the only one having trouble being a super...





	1. It's Okay to Miss School if You're Being Eaten by a Bear

**Author's Note:**

> i'm testing the waters here. not sure how this is going to go, how much romance i want to put it, yada yadadadada. all i can say is that i will attempt to keep this story interesting. 
> 
> and i'm so sorry for the heavy drippage of sarcasm that taints all of my writing

In a world full of superheroes, there are many supervillains. Enemies surface to specifically target the heroes they have an advantage over. Of course, then others, stronger than the villains, would lend a helping hand to their fellow supers. There was no one villain who could conquer all heroes, and no one hero who could defeat all villains. However, Lance McClain could easily be killed by anyone, for he had the upper hand on no one. 

In a world full of superheroes, being powerless is considered defective. You are both extraordinary and incredibly dull at the same time. Your DNA holds a seriously rare combination, yet you live at the mercy of everyone else around you, defenseless. Colonies of these normal people would be useless, an obvious target to any evil. And so they live among the supers, hoping they pass simply as heroes with extremely convincing secret identities. 

He knows other like him-- mainly his sister, just two years younger, who served as the family’s second dud. The label sounds harsh, but it was really those two that titled themselves. Their other siblings they called “flower buds,” blooming into the mature heroes they were destined to be. But Lance and Kayla would never experience that. Their flowers would stay tightly shut until they wilted-- or until someone chose to step on them, cutting their lives short.

And in this moment, someone definitely wanted to step on Lance. 

 

Being a doctor, you’d really think it’s your patients who are the ones almost getting killed. Yet here Lance was, being dragged around by what looked like a giant 3D model of Ursa Minor. He’d just wanted to walk to the bus; now he was praying they didn’t run into Ursa Major. “Momma Bear vs Medical Student,” the headlines would read. “Baby Bear Unharmed Though, Don’t Worry Guys Lmao.” Okay, maybe that’s a stretch. But when you’re stuck in a monsters mouth, overthinking is one of the few occupying activities other than like, screaming and dying. 

Besides, he really didn’t want to focus on his surroundings. Slimy and warm and red… the appetizer had already been eaten, and Lance was likely the main course. A pretty lousy main course, if you asked him. This kind of situation is a great example of why to stay lanky: no meat = no good to eat. But apparently bears just have terrible taste. 

It finally seemed like squirming around was doing some good. The jaws were opening, teeth flashing yellows and dripping reds as the sunlight poured onto them. Lance crawled forward, ignoring the fact that the floor was a spongy pink carpet of death (also known as a tongue). The gross tunnel to freedom was almost at an end. So close, almost there, and then the plant dude appeared. 

For your information, being ripped out of a monster’s mouth via vine and face planting on to the rough asphalt in front of it is not an enjoyable experience. 2/10 stars. 

Lance barely had time to roll out of the way before his good pal Ursa dove at him. After glancing up, he wasn’t even sure picking himself off the ground was worth it. This part of town was in ruins. There were figures and shapes moving and darting around the wreckage in every direction. This attack was too big to be some small heist blown out of proportion. Whenever stuff like this happened, all eyes looked to the Galra. They were an elite villain group, hellbent on terrorizing citizens and getting up to no good. Now that he thought about it, the creature before him did resemble the shadow realm monsters always plastered on the news. Yep, definitely the Galra. 

Getting up, he prepared himself. Breathe in, breathe out, spread your legs into a confident battle stance. It didn’t help all that much. Lance wasn’t feeling confident in the slightest. This world was made for the special, not the powerless. All he could do was watch in horror as his savior was pinned down by a clawed paw of massive proportions. 

“MA- FOX!” A small girl barreled down the rubble behind Lance. There were gadgets trailing behind her, an electric hum almost surrounding her. She screamed more that Lance couldn’t make out. He knew he recognized the two now. Matching tufts of caramel colored hair bounced on the sides of both of their heads; one wrapped in life, the other in wire. The Earthen Fox and the Electric Mage were right here, right in front of him, saving him. 

Lance ran. That was possibly the stupidest available choice, running towards the very thing that had had him in its mouth just a couple minutes ago, but it needed to be done. He couldn’t leave them alone against that thing, especially with one quite possibly injured. 

Mage was talking her mouth off, cursing with a more threatening tone of voice than Lance thought possible from someone who looked so young. The words were almost too fast to process. However she paused when she noticed him approaching, grabbing something off her belt and pressing it into Lance’s hands.

“Throw.” 

And he did. 

The capsule exploded upon making impact with the concrete on the other side of the bear, providing a worthy distraction for the beast. As it lifted its paw, Fox scrambled out, face flushed and arm clutching his side. He joined them, breathing almost heavy enough to drown out the Mage’s loud buzz. 

“So are you gonna do it or what?” The mage was scowling at her partner’s side as though it were the new enemy. 

“I need an opening. And a cheeseburger. I hate when attacks interrupt lunch,” rasped out Fox.

“I think you already know we aren’t eating until all this is cleaned up.” 

“Bummer.” 

Maybe they’d ignore him. He was wrong. 

“Hey, you’ve got good aim.” 

Lance was met face to face with rich brown irises-- two pairs of them. Both supers had focused their gazes on him. He’d be lying if he said that wasn’t a bit nerve wracking in this type of situation, especially with those two being so well known.

“Could you throw another one?” the Mage continued. “Ma.. Fox needs an opening so if you could get this one to land on the bear’s side that’d be great.” She pulled another capsule off her belt, handing it to Lance. 

This time he actually had time to study it. It was light, spherical, some bumps he assumed were some sort of sensors dotting the sides. After turning it over in his hands a couple times, he wound back his arm and chucked it just as Winnie the Pooh remembered he had some tasty snacks standing right behind him. The capsule hit the bear’s neck and activated. Describing what happened next wouldn’t be all that pleasant. Use your imagination. 

Fox lept into action, vines crawling down his arms and shooting into the wound with lightning speed. The bear gave out a cry, then some loud whimpers that escalated into a roar. The Fox’s arms were growing thicker and thicker with foliage, stems overlapping as they shot up to join the others. The bear tried to run and he held it there while it struggled and cried. 

Lance would’ve looked away, had it not been for the bag unceremoniously dumped into him arms. 

“Throw ‘em a curve ball, Mr. whoever you are.”

“McClain,” Lance said, peering into the bag. More of those little capsule bombs. Where was this girl keeping all of these?

“Mr. McClain,” the Mage corrected herself.

Lance did as he was told, and it wasn’t long before the monster fell. Fox released the plants, which proceeded to wrap around the beast and promptly die with it. It was gorey, leaves weaving in and out of indents that dripped with fresh blood. 

“Come on, McClain, we need to get out of this area before something else decides you look tasty.” The Mage’s voice pulled Lance’s stare away from the fallen creature. 

“I do not look tasty.” Lance frowned. 

“Do too.” 

“If I’m dinner, you’re dessert.” 

“Deal. Now let’s leave, I’m pretty sure Foxy here bruised something.”

He couldn’t argue with that. Fox looked like he was about to pass out at any moment. Lance followed after the departing heroes, hesitating before going to the Fox’s side and putting the boy’s arm across his shoulders. By now Lance was used to playing the human crutch for his brothers and sisters. He could only hope that none of the leaves on this dude’s suit weren’t poison oak. 

 

So this was it, right? He’d helped the supers save the day. Now the headlines would read, “Normal Man Assists Electric Mage and Earthen Fox in a Battle to go Down in History.” He’d bring the Fox to the nearest hospital, do an interview and then he’ll have fulfilled the expected duties of most citizens to protect their city. Those moves must have earned him enough cool points for the rest of his life. Kayla would be so jealous once she saw him on the news. 

If only it were that simple. 

 

“Disk,” croaked out the Fox. 

“What?” Lance had his eyes on the horizon, paying no heed to the Fox’s, which were directed to the left of them. 

“ _Disk _.”__

__Honestly, you wouldn’t think someone so high tech would be incapacitated by what looked like a frisbee. The Mage fell with the mighty last words of “oh shit,” none of her gadgets coming to her rescue as she dropped to the ground._ _

__The Fox immediately left Lance’s support to rush to the girl’s side._ _

__“Carry her instead. I’ll take care of this.” Fox’s words were heavy._ _

__The medical side of Lance said, “He’s injured, he’s going to die if you leave him.” The other side of Lance said, “Plant man will turn me into a squash if I don’t do what he says.”_ _

__Lance picked up the Mage, who was surprisingly light with all the equipment she had on her, and sprinted away from what was now the frisbee-death zone. He managed to avoid more major danger as he ran, though there were a couple other close encounters with the floor when he lost his footing. Today he’d really been way more buddy buddy with the ground than he’d ever hoped to be. His head was swimming with scenarios of what could be going on behind him. If all went well, the Fox would appear beside them. And if it didn’t… The Mage probably wouldn’t be the happiest camper when she woke back up._ _

__It was stressful, waiting for the Fox to reappear. Lance had made it to the outskirts of the destruction, where he laid the Mage down in some grass and sat beside her. She was still out cold. Lance tried to tinker with the robots still hovering around her and was given a nice zap to the finger. He then decided it was best not to play with the shocky toys and kept his hands to himself after that._ _

__It took the Fox an hour to show up. Drying roots entangled his body, dying and turning to dust as he ran up to meet the other two._ _

__“How is she?” His voice was shaky._ _

__“She seems okay. Still hasn’t woken up. I think she’ll be fine if she makes sure to rest for the next couple days.” Lance tried to put a happy tone in his voice. Without it, he was afraid the Fox might pass out purely from panic. He didn’t need two unconscious heroes on his hands._ _

__“Thank goodness,” Fox sighed with relief. “I can take her off your hands now. She’s quite the ball of energy but I’ll try my best to get her to rest up at home.”_ _

__He smiled, and Lance returned the grin._ _

__“Thank you for all your help today. I’m not sure what we would’ve done without the extra hands on deck. She was right about you having good aim.”_ _

__“No problem,” Lance replied. “What happened with you and the mysterious discus thrower?”_ _

__That got a chuckle out of the Fox. “It was a Galra soldier. He must’ve recognized us and tried to take us out. I wrapped him up in some roots and kicked him towards another one of those shadow monsters. Those things give me the heebie jeebies,” he said, shivering._ _

__“Try being in one of their mouths.”_ _

__“I think I’ll pass.” He scooped up the Mage into his arms effortlessly. “It might be for the best if we head out now. I don’t want her running back out into battle as soon as her eyes open back up.”_ _

__“After an injury like that?”_ _

__“You’d be surprised how much determination can be contained in a little body. I’ve concluded that it comes concentrated and carbonated for extra power.”_ _

__“I’ll believe it. Call me up if she needs a nurse to look after her again,” joked Lance._ _

__“Well in that case, see you soon, doc.”_ _

__The parties started off in opposite directions, each glancing back when the other wasn’t looking. Lance felt his body growing weary as he walked, adrenaline slowly draining and being replaced with achiness._ _

__

__He found the bus stop a couple blocks away. Everything processed on the ride home. His clothes were ruined, his knees and palms were skinned and there was no doubt bruises would be blooming in numerous places by the next morning. Not to mention he’d lost his backpack, which now was probably abandoned on a broken slab of concrete somewhere._ _

__

__He wasn’t a super. He wasn’t meant for this. His life wasn’t meant for this. But being in the right place at the right time can get you anywhere. Being a protector, like those around him, was never determined by your powers; it was about having a heart inclined to help those in need._ _

__

__Besides, the Holts weren’t about to let Grade A hero material slip away so easily._ _


	2. Love Thy Sibling (Yes, Even If They're a Dork)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is kinda short too (oops) but i wanted to get it out fast, especially since i'll be pretty busy soon 
> 
> congrats on making it through the first chapter and moving on to this one (im proud of you, soldier)

“Ow.” 

“Hey- lie back down. You shouldn’t be up and moving around yet.”

“I’m fine, Hunk.”

“If you were fine, Matt wouldn’t have told me to keep you in bed. Now get back under the covers.” Hunk frowned, shooing Pidge away from the doorway. 

“Where is Matt?”

“He and Shiro went to get groceries. And before you ask about the others, Shay is visiting home, and Coran and Allura went to the zoo to experiment. I have no idea where Keith is.”

“Dang it,” she sighed. “I guess things are pretty normal around here then.”

“Pretty much. You hungry?”

“Only if I can get up and go to the kitchen to eat.”

“Then I guess you aren’t hungry. _Hey _, back in bed!”__

__Pidge groaned as she was unceremoniously picked up and dumped back onto her mattress. There was a handful of caramels left on her nightstand, along with a scribbly stick figure caricature of her on a sticky note. She smiled upon the realization that Coran and Keith must’ve stopped by to leave get-well gifts earlier._ _

__“Shay baked some pumpkin cake before she left. Want me to go get you a slice of that?” Hunk had pulled out her desk chair and sat down. He looked rather hilarious, the chair set down so low for her and his height not taking kindly to that._ _

__“Yes please. And one of those shakes in the fridge.”_ _

__“I have no idea what Keith puts in those things. I’ve only ever seen him drink them at like, two in the morning or some other ungodly hour. Pretty sure those things will kill you faster than any injury.”_ _

__“Please?”_ _

__“Fine. But if Shiro asks, I warned you and you chose this fate yourself.” Hunk stood back up and pushed the chair back to its place at the desk. He walked out, then backtracked back to the doorway. “No death shakes for those who get out of bed.” After that he seemed satisfied and disappeared down the hallway._ _

__Pidge rolled her eyes at that, but finally listened and fell back onto her pillow. Her head throbbed a bit, and judging by the bangs plastered to her forehead, someone had tried and failed terribly to bandage her injury. She was placing her bets on Matt. Plucking her phone off of its charger, she swiped her way to the news. “Galra Attack on Downtown”, “Shadow Realm Creatures Still on the Loose”, “Soldiers Terrorize Citizens Fleeing the Danger’-- the number of articles was insane. Yesterday had been more hectic than anything they’d seen in the past couple months, maybe even in the last year. There was no doubt that the mess was still being cleaned up. It had been too much at one time for even the strongest heroes to tackle._ _

__On the bright side, someone had caught the guy who opened the shadow realm. Or at least they thought they’d found the right guy. It was hard to tell, that ability being common among the Galra. If it really was, there was at least hope he’d get the punishment he deserved. The creatures released from there… when set free and provoked like that, all they did was chase and attack any moving thing they saw. For most heroes, the only way to stop them was to kill them. Pidge still felt guilty for taking down that bear, even if it had to be done to keep the public safe._ _

__“I picked the most food-looking one I could find.” Hunk had come back, carrying a plate of cake and holding up a bottle of pinkish liquid._ _

__“Thanks. I hope it’s ham flavored,” Pidge grinned._ _

__“I wouldn’t be surprised if it is,” Hunk replied, setting the stuff down on the nightstand. “I’m going to go down to the training room and test some moves out with those mineral samples from last week. Call if you need anything else, okay?”_ _

__“Okay. Thanks, Hunk.”_ _

__Hunk nodded, tucked the covers in just a bit more, and left._ _

__Left to her own devices, Pidge finished her cake and browsed the net, and occasionally glanced over at the shake left by her bedside. Did she dare drink it? She weighed the possible outcomes, reached for it and unscrewed the lid; it smelled fruity. Maybe, just maybe, Keith was a better barista than cook. It at least looked better than the charcoal she’d seen him call lunch a few times. Pidge brought the bottle to her lips and gulped it down. She quickly found this to be a big mistake, pulling it away from her face to cough and sputter. While it wasn’t terrible, it tasted like a normal smoothie with several pounds of sugar added. Screwing the lid back on, she placed it back on the nightstand and didn’t touch it again._ _

__Several hours later, Matt and Shiro were peering at her from the doorway._ _

__“You know I can see you, right?” The girl raised her eyebrows._ _

__“Yeah. We’re just observing from a distance.” Matt had a plastic bag in hand._ _

__“Head injuries aren’t contagious.”_ _

__“Head injuries don’t keep little gremlins from running out the door to get away from me.”_ _

__“And why would I do that?”_ _

__“Cause I brought medicine.”_ _

__Pidge wrinkled her nose at that. Matt approached, Shiro staying in place to presumably guard the doorway._ _

__“How’s your head?” Shiro’s voice was much more soft and soothing than Matt’s, which sounded stricken with worry._ _

__“It’s been okay. It hurts a little when I move too fast.”_ _

__Matt pulled some pills out of the bag, handing a couple to Pidge. The only liquid she had was the strawberry sugar solvent of death, which only strengthened her distaste as she took the pills._ _

__“Those should start working within the hour. I’m so sorry, Pigeon. I should’ve been paying more attention.”_ _

__Pidge frowned. “It wasn’t your fault. And you were hurt too.”_ _

__“I saw it before it hit you. I wasn’t fast enough to stop it.”_ _

__“Really, Matt, I’m fine.”_ _

__Matt didn’t look convinced, but dropped the argument. “Still, it brings up a good point. We don’t have anyone medically talented on the team.”_ _

__That seemed to pique Shiro’s interest. He pushed off of where he had been leaning against the doorframe, moving to stand beside the smaller boy. “Do we need anyone like that? We’ve been alright in the past.”_ _

__“It might be a good idea to have someone trained for these kinds of situations. I mean, it couldn’t hurt, and I’m sure it would be beneficial for other reasons as well.”_ _

__“I suppose. But we’d have to bring the idea to the rest of the team.”_ _

__“Of course. I think it’s worth considering. It would greatly heighten the safety of the team.”_ _

__The safety of the team was always an important subject to Shiro. Him and Hunk were the ones who policed everyone else, almost always on the “better safe than sorry” side of decisions._ _

__“What about McClain?” Pidge smirked. “Does Matthew, perhaps, want a pretty boy to play doctor with?”_ _

__“That guy is a _doctor _?” Matt looked horrified. She couldn’t tell if his expression was in response to her former question or the latter one.____

__

__

____

____“He’s something. He was wearing a BMI ID on his shirt.”_ _ _ _

____

____“Wasn’t Burley’s damaged in yesterday’s attack?”_ _ _ _

____

____“Guess McClain isn’t going to school for a while then. But hey, in theory he’s medically talented.”_ _ _ _

____

____“We don’t know the guy. Even if we wanted him, we have no way of contacting him.”_ _ _ _

____

____“Just an idea. We know he’s somewhat in the medical field, we’ve seen his performance in combat, _and _he managed to keep both of us alive.”___ _ _ _

____

______“You imply I’m attracted to him and then proceed to sing his praises. You were unconscious most of the time you were with him. I don’t think I’m the one with the crush here.”_ _ _ _ _ _

____

______“Both of you sound fairly enamored with him,” Shiro interrupted. “Is this the guy you were telling me about on the way to the store?”_ _ _ _ _ _

____

______“Yeah.” Matt tied the plastic bag’s handles together with a lot of crinkling accompanying his forming bow. “He must be really keen on hiding his identity. We didn’t see him use any powers at all.”_ _ _ _ _ _

____

______“Hm.” Shiro seemed to ponder that. “So not someone who’d be trying to step too far out of their place as a medic. We’ll bring him up as a candidate when we talk with the team.”_ _ _ _ _ _

____

______“But, Shiro-” Pidge sat up and grabbed Matt’s arm before he could finish. Their joke had been taken farther than expected; however, there was no stopping it now. And it wasn’t like McClain was really a bad choice anyways. The guy appeared to be a pretty decent person, calm on the battlefield… _and _he played along with their jokes. That was _very _important, obviously._____ _ _ _ _ _

____

__________“I think that’s a great idea, Shiro,” Pidge said._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

__________“I had to pick her up and run and everything. I can’t believe they were trusting someone like _me _to be able to defend them,” Lance concluded, finishing his recount of yesterday’s downtown fiasco.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

____________“That’s awesome!” Kayla folded her arms. “I just heard about the attack during school. I was afraid you’d gotten hurt since you were on your way down there when I left.” The girl frowned. “You didn’t answer your phone.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

____________“Ah, well, I kinda lost my phone.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

____________“ _What _?”___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

______________“Don’t tell mom. I don’t know what happened to my backpack.” Lance bit his lip._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

______________“You’re going to be so dead when she finds out.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

______________“The school is damaged anyways. I’ll use my free time until class is back to make some extra cash and buy back the materials I lost.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

______________“Uh-huh, good luck with that.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

______________Lance scoffed. “Is that, dare I even suggest, sarcasm?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

______________“What a genius mom’s raised. You are correct, good sir.” She stood up from the couch, bundling her sweatshirt in her arms. “Now c’mon, Marco’s gonna be home to pick us up any minute.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

______________“Pizza place down by the park?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

______________“The one and only. You can impress everyone else with your heroic deeds over dinner.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

______________“Admit it, even you’re impressed.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

______________“Hmm, maybe I am. Just maybe.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

______________A car honked from the driveway. Lance and Kayla both hurried out the door, Lance pausing to jam in his key and lock the house. His brother was smiling at him from the driver’s seat once he got out to the driveway. He piled into the back with his sisters, and their age old argument over what pizza toppings to order started yet again._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

______________Today had been normal. He liked it that way._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____


End file.
